Tell the World, Horatio
by RainGoddess2040
Summary: As I lay dying, I ask but for one last kiss. You shall not grant it, but I will still ask because it is all I am able to do. / Something's wrong with Jacob. He calls Edward. What's going on? - All info inside.


**Character(s): **Jacob Black, Edward Cullen, Bella Swan, Sam Uley, Seth Clearwater, Assorted other characters in passing  
**Pairing(s):** Mentions of all the following pairings: Jake/Sam, Bella/Jake (one-sided), Bella/Edward, Sam/Emily, Sam/Leah, (implied [if you squint through the wrong end of a telescope while standing upside down]) Jake/Edward  
**Warning(s): **slash, angst, major character death, sex with a minor, het  
**Spoiler(s): **None really, this is sort of AU.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own it, which means you can't sue me.  
**A/N: ** Yeah, I warned some others that not many of my stories have Jake living simply because it's difficult for me to write anything happy. Also, I cried while writing this, so **Major Hanky Warning!** [I'm a big sap, though.]

* * *

_**"If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, / Absent thee from felicity a while, / And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain / To tell my story." **_- Hamlet to Horatio [The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark :: Act V,Scene 2]

* * *

_"Uh, unh! More. Please. Faster, please, Sam, go faster," whimpered a fourteen year old Jacob Black._

_"Fuck, Jake, you're so goddamned tight," groaned a nineteen year old Sam Uley.  
_

_They both knew it was wrong, but Jacob didn't really understand why and Sam was never one to deny himself anything. Having sex, before marriage, was tolerable. Having sex with another male was looked down upon. However, having sex with the 14 year old son of the chief was taboo, bordering on punishable by death. Except, Jacob loved Sam and Sam cared about Jacob. Or, at least, he tried.  
_

_Two weeks after they made love for the first time, Sam met Leah Clearwater and left Jacob and his love in ruins. Leah didn't know about Jacob, but Jacob knew about Leah. And he tried to hate her, he really did, but his love for Sam was such that he couldn't deny him his happiness.  
_

_And then Sam met Emily, Jacob and Leah became wolves and many things that Sam wanted to hide from both were revealed in his thoughts except the things they needed to hear the most._

* * *

Bella had not heard from Jacob at all since she had returned from Italy with Edward. So it was shocking when she received a call with Jacob's number showing up on the caller id as she sat with Edward in her room. Unfortunately, it wasn't Jacob who had called her. It was Seth.

"Bella? Are you there? It's Seth. You know, Jacob's friend," the younger teen said tentatively.

Bella snapped out her stupor with, "Yes, I know who it is. I'm sorry. I was expecting to hear from Jacob."

Edward, who had been sitting at her desk, came to sit next to her.

"Yeah... Um... Well, yeah. Can I ask you something?"

"If it's about why I love Edward or something, then no. If it's about anything else, ask away."

"Yeah, it actually has to do with Edward – just not the way you think. Is he there with you?"

"Yes, why?" Her voice sounded suspicious.

"He is? Great!" Seth exclaimed before sobering quickly, "Um... Jacob wants to speak to him."

"About what?"

"It's private. And he wants Edward to come to the Rez. He's allowed over the treaty line. Tell him to come soon – that is, if he's going to come."

At this, Bella turned to her boyfriend. Edward nodded his acceptance.

"He says okay. Now, Seth, tell me what this is all about."

"Bella, I can't, okay." Seth sounded tired and miserable. "Just tell him to come by at 5 o'clock, at the latest. Jake doesn't have – Um... yeah, thanks Bella. Bye."

"Seth! Seth! Jake doesn't have much what?"

All she was met with was a dial tone. And when she turned to look for her boyfriend, she was met with an empty room. She turned to look at the clock and saw that it was already 3:30. She had to wonder where the time had gone.

* * *

Edward was tentative as he stepped over the border, unsure of why his presence was desired. Had Jacob finally given up? Would his pack members jump him as soon as he came near the Black residence? Or was there something else? All those questions ran through the mind-reader's head such that he was oblivious to the thoughts of those around him as he approached the Black home. He was shocked as the home came into view, to see members of the pack sitting on the porch or leaning against the house.

He stepped closer to the house warily, actually flinching as one of the wolves whose thoughts were more volatile, shifted to look at him. He flinched. The wolf – no, teen – smiled at his show of fear, but then turned towards the door and frowned, his thoughts cloaked in a deep sadness.

Edward could make no sense of the thoughts of the others around them. All of them were focused too much on the situation and thinking too loudly. He only got snippets and snapshots. It was too much to take in and hardly understandable. It sounded like a room full of people all talking too loudly about the same thing.

'Shouldn't be like this – too young to die – the best of us – my best friend – can't believe it – damn them – I've never hated being a wolf so much – why didn't he try harder? – nothing he could do – it's all their fault – I hate them so much – stupid leech loving bitch! – fucking vampires! – Not My Jacob!'

That last thought was the one he focused on and he found himself pulled into the mind of the Alpha, Sam Uley. The man's mind was full of the mantra, 'not my Jacob,' only interspersed with memories. He couldn't believe the thoughts of the man – his lack of remorse for what was obviously statutory rape, his possessiveness, his obsession, his grief. He pulled out of the mind of the Alpha to find himself face to face with the focus of everyone's thoughts.

The teen stood looking at him. Edward could see that something was obviously wrong. The previously large and energetic wolf looked thin and tired. Something was wrong. Edward knew it because all the thoughts around him seemed to peter off except for the boy's in front of him. However, his thoughts provided no illumination on the situation, they were so fuzzy and shifting. Every time he tried to focus on a specific train of thought, it only stayed for a while before it veered off into nothing. By the time he pulled himself from Jacob's head, he realized that they were alone.

"So, what is this about? I mean, why call me? Bella is you best friend. She's much more –"

He was interrupted.

"Bella can't handle what I want to talk to you about. I, also, truthfully, don't want her to know. I thought that if I told you, you'd tell her and also that you'd probably handle it better."

The teen's voice was as resigned as the look on his face. He looked as if he had aged a lot more than the wolf genes had previously allowed.

"Again, what is this –"

Once again, he was interrupted.

"Walk with me."

The eternal teen rushed to stop the teen. He told himself that he would not go another step without an explanation, and so, neither would the other male move without giving one.

He grabbed the boy by his collar and pulled him close to his face.

"Talk. Now."

A sigh was his initial answer even as he set the boy down and stepped away from him. And yet, Jacob started to once again, walk away from the vampire.

"Jacob Black! Answer me! What is it that you want? Speak, think, but do something! If you were going from a dramatic moment, the moment has long since passed."

And still, the wolf teen continued to walk away. Edward stood and fumed, resolved to simply stand in place until the teen realized he wasn't following. With the other male's supernatural senses, it should have been an easy thing. However, the teen only seemed to notice the lack of his presence at his back when he was at the edge of the forest behind his small home.

The Quileute turned to face the vampire where he stood. His face was shadowed and his eyes were dark. The vampire actually became hesitant at the sight.

"I'm dying," he said, and walked into the forest towards the cliffs.

* * *

"I don't want to die, Edward! It's not fair! I never asked for much. I never expected much. Why is this happening to me? I'm too young to die. I can't do this," Jacob screamed with tears in his eyes, before turning on Edward.

"Well, say something, Mr.-I'm-never-gonna-die-cuz-I'm-a-fucking-vampire!" the young native screamed at his companion.

"I'm sorry, Jacob," the vampire whispered.

That soft admission broke through the young teen's anger. He fell to his knees sobbing, not caring that someone who was meant to be his enemy was watching.

Edward couldn't stand to see the young wolf so broken, so he took him into his arms gently. The teen, who had once seemed too tall, curled into his arms, feeling no bigger than a small child. And, that is when Edward realized that Jacob had shrunk with the slow death of his wolf and that he was now shorter than himself.

Jacob sobbed long and hard into Edward's shoulder and it was a while before he was able to speak again.

"Don't tell them that I cried, Edward. Don't tell them about the things I said. I don't want anyone to know. Please promise," Jacob pleaded.

Edward could never have said no.

"Tell them that I was strong and that I-I-I never gave up. Tell them that it didn't hurt. I don't want anyone to know that it hurt. God, it hurts so much. I just want it to go away. Is that so much to want, Edward? Maybe it is. I don't know. But, hey, I'm just a kid; what do I know about dying?"

The sound that escaped Jacob's mouth then was much too bitter to be called a laugh. Edward had never heard anything so heartbreaking. He turned Jacob in his arms so that they both, once again, faced the sea.

"Edward," Jacob whispered, "I'm going to die soon. I won't see anyone ever again. The others – I've told them goodbye. The only ones left are Bella and–and Sam. Would you tell them-" he was cut off.

"Of course, Jacob. Anything."

"Tell Bella that I was glad to know and love her."

At this, Edward smiled sadly and nodded.

"Tell... Tell Sam the same thing."

Edward hesitated a bit before nodding a second time.

"And – I –." He sighed dejectedly. "Thank you, Edward..."

Both of them, Vampire and Shape-shifter sat in silence after that, simply watching the sun make its slow descent into the horizon. Jacob still leaned against Edward and Edward still held the dying teen, listening to the sounds of nature around them, as Jacob's mind had fallen silent and his breathing had evened out.

Darkness began to set in, and something passed through his mind before it once again became silent. Edward was speechless and resolved to simply hold the teen tighter.

It was only when the sun's last rays slipped beneath the horizon line that Edward realized that Jacob was gone. He thought the teen had fallen asleep and he had, just not a sleep that one can awake from. His heartbeat and breathing had been so very steady as they faded and Edward had felt so content that Jacob's last breath slipped away from him.

Edward stood, cradling the boy's cooling form to his chest, and walked back toward civilization to inform an old, dying man, that his youngest child, his only son, was dead.

On the day of his funeral, it rained at first, but then the sun came out and shined so brightly. Every individual in attendance smiled through their tears and sadness. If the sun could shine on such a day, it meant that their personal sun was at peace. Edward stood beneath the trees, watching the other mourners, wishing he could join them, wishing he could cry.  


* * *

He stayed long after everyone had left.

* * *

The solemn and grieving remaining members of the Black family were silent, having already danced the dance so well; their steps were measured as if they had never been out of practice. Edward understood why one sister had fled to Hawaii, but he doubted that even the almost constant sunshine of the island state could brighten the darkness now present in her life. He, at first, didn't understand why they wouldn't cry, but as he read their minds he realized that they still grieved for the wife and mother they had lost. Their grief would be a constant and never ending thing. It would be with them until their own deaths. First mother, then son and it was not the time for either.

The pack's reaction was insurmountable grief. Their sorrow was only second to that of Jacob's family. They felt everything. They knew everything. They were connected to each other by something so great and now, something so terrible. Their pain would last and last. There would now be a hole, a void where their brother had been because when you lose a pack member, the connection just doesn't snap; it leaves a space as if they're still connected. It's equal parts rumour and legend that if a pack member seeks too hard for the other end of that bond, they'll be dragged into the abyss as well.

The pack leader had to be pulled away from the grave site. He was hysterical at first. Between his bouts of sobs and silent tears, he mumbled – "Not Jake. Not Jake. Jacob, come back. I love you. I'm so sorry. So sorry, love." Edward found himself getting angry at the man for daring show any emotion after the way he had treated Jacob, except, it wasn't his fault. None of it was his fault.

* * *

They say that Fate is a fickle mistress when really she's just a cruel bitch.

* * *

Edward was the last to stand before the teen's final resting place. Bella had been taken away by Charlie after Sam's meltdown. At the agony in his words, the girl had seized up, tears seemingly frozen on her face. She became something of a zombie. Charlie was afraid for her. The chief was afraid for them all. He had lost a son with Jacob's death and did not want to lose anyone else. However, even a somewhat oblivious man like Charlie Swan knew that once the sun stopped shining, all else would crumble to ash.

The wind whispered through the trees as the sun began to set. The vampire lifted his face to the sky, replaying the final thoughts of one he had not thought to hold dear. Edward crouched down and ran his fingers of the stone marker declaring to all the world that the cold body in the ground beneath had once housed Jacob Black.

* * *

_"It was good to finally know you, too, Edward Cullen. You can never love too much, Edward. I hope you understand that now. Don't let go, please, at least, not while she still loves you just as much, back. Just know that you have something that I'll never have and it's no one's fault but my own. I wish I could have been as selfish as some people saw me, but if you really love someone, you just want them happy. Please make her happy and – please, be happy yourself, Edward. That's not a lot to ask, right?"  
_

"It was good to finally know you, as well, Jacob. I understand, I think. Thank you. For so much, thank you."

* * *

- [ F I N ] -

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**A/N #2:** Do you know how hard it is to format stories on this site? Please tell me that someone feels my pain... X[ I spent like half an hour trying before I finally just gave up. Its so freaking irritating! I would blame my Mac, but it's not at fault! I know it isn't! *sighs* ANYWAY... Please Review whether you enjoyed it or not. You can PM me any questions you have about the story as well.

**A/N #3: **Soon after the above note was written, I spent another twenty minutes putting in line break in html. I have a crick in my neck. FF fails for this.


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